Steven Soden was 16 when he disappeared while on a camping trip with his orphanage in April 1972. He and another boy, 12-year-old Donald Caldwell, were never seen again after the trip. This week, Soden’s family was relieved to learn that the young man’s death was not at the hands of notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

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A solar eclipse darkened the sky in the middle of the day on May 10, 1994, the day that serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection. Before being strapped to the gurney, Gacy had a picnic with family and then met with a Catholic priest to pray.

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Inventing an evil alter ego is not uncommon for serial killers, in fact some of the most famous ones have claimed that one or more persons living inside them either made them kill, or actually did the killing. Most, however, who tried this multiple personality defense, abandoned it, after discovering that this particular brand of crazy doesn’t get them off the hook.

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On his 2005 album Illinoise, Detroit-born indie singer Sufjan Stevens pays tribute to the best and the worst of the 21st state. The fourth track, titled John Wayne Gacy Jr. is a melancholy tune that visits the life of infamous Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

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While in prison, serial killer and rapist John Wayne Gacy took up painting. He was actually pretty good at it, focusing mainly on self portraits — with and without his notorious clown costume. One painting stands out as particularly creepy — a skull, adorned by a clown collar, made of naked bodies in sexual positions.

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On Friday, December 22, 1978, Gacy finally confessed to police that he killed at least 30 people and buried most of the remains of the victims beneath the crawl space of his home.

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